Boss in the Mirror

Boss in the Mirror (Korean: 사장님 귀는 당나귀 귀) is a South Korean variety show hosted by Jeon Hyun-moo and Kim Sook.^[1] The show was initially aired as a pilot program on KBS2 on February 5–6, 2019.^[2] It premiered on April 28, 2019, as a regular program, and airs every Sunday at 17:00 (KST).^[3]

Boss in the Mirror
Hangul	사장님 귀는 당나귀 귀
RR	Sajangnim gwineun dangnagwi gwi
MR	Sajangnim kwinŭn tangnagwi kwi
Genre	Variety show
Presented by	Jun Hyun-Moo Kim Sook Kim Hee-chul
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	148 + 1 Pilot
Production
Running time	90 minutes
Original release
Network	KBS2
Release	February 5, 2019 (2019-02-05) – present

Synopsis

This is a variety show where Korean bosses go through self-examination to create a better working environment for their employees.^[4] The show features a variety of industries and include guest appearances in the form of special MCs or people related to the bosses in the show.

Host

Current MC

cast	broadcast period	Round	note
Kim sook	April 28, 2019 – March 6, 2022	Episodes 1 – 146	Absence from attending the 147 and 148 due to COVID-19
	March 27, 2022 ~	Episodes 149 ~ Present
Jun Hyun-moo	April 28, 2019 ~	Episodes 1 ~ Present'

Previous MC

cast	broadcast period	Round	note
Kim Yong-gun	April 28, 2019 – December 8, 2019	Episodes 1 – 33
Shim Young-soon	November 10, 2019 – July 19, 2020	Episodes 29 – 65
Hur Jae	January 30, 2022 – September 18, 2022	Episodes 142 – 174	Departure due to boss appearance
Kim Hee-chul	October 23, 2022 – May 12, 2024	Episodes 179 – 257

Cast

Current regular cast

Current Cast	Job	Broadcast period	Round	Note
Ji-Sun Jung	Chinese chef	January 15, 2023 ~	Episodes 190 ~ Present	The longest-running cast of all time
Yoshihiro Akiyama	Talent	June 25, 2023 ~	Episodes 213 ~ Present
Heebab	Mukbang Creator	September 17, 2023 ~	Episodes 225 ~ Present
Kim Heo-Seong	Hotel CEO	October 29, 2023 ~	Episodes 229 ~ Present
Park Myung-soo	Comedian	January 14, 2024 ~	Episodes 240 ~ Present

Semi-fixed cast

Current Cast	Job	Broadcast period	Round	Note
Lee Yeon-bok	Chinese chef	February 5, 2019 – May 5, 2019	Pilots 1 – 2	Appearing since the pilot
		January 29, 2023 ~	Episodes 192 ~ Present
Byung-hyun Kim	Hamburger restaurant owner	August 29, 2021 – January 1, 2023	Episodes 121 – 188
		March 5, 2023 ~	Episodes 197 ~ Present
Jeong Ho-young	Japanese chef	August 22, 2021 – January 22, 2023	Episodes 120 – 191
		May 21, 2023 ~	Episodes 208 ~ Present
Kim Soo-mi	Actor	April 23, 2023 – April 30, 2023	Episodes 204 – 205
		September 10, 2023 ~	Episodes 224 ~ Present

Previous cast

Cast	Job	Broadcast period	Round	Note
Kim Jun-ho	Comedian	February 5, 2019 – February 6, 2019	Pilots 1 – 2
Park Won-soon	Seoul Special Market	February 5, 2019 – February 6, 2019	Pilots 1 – 2
Tiger JK	Feelgood Music CEO	May 12, 2019 – July 21, 2019	Episodes 3 – 13
		December 13, 2020 – December 27, 2020	Episodes 86 – 88
Won Hee-ryong	Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Governor	July 7, 2019 – October 6, 2019	Episodes 11 – 24
Choi Hyun-seok	western chef	November 10, 2019 – December 29, 2019	Episodes 29 – 36
Park Sul-nyeo	Hanbok Designer	January 5, 2020 – February 16, 2020	Episodes 37 – 43
		April 25, 2021 – May 23, 2021	Episodes 105 – 109
		January 30, 2022	Episode 142
Sim Yeongsoon	Korean cuisine researcher	April 28, 2019 – July 19, 2020	Episodes 1 – 65
		March 21, 2021 – April 4, 2021	Episodes 100 – 102
		January 30, 2022	Episode 142
Kim So-yeon	ESteem CEO	October 13, 2019 – July 12, 2020	Episodes 25 – 64
		March 21, 2021 – April 4, 2021	Episodes 100 – 102
		January 30, 2022	Episode 142
Hey Jini	YouTuber	March 1, 2020 – June 21, 2020	Episodes 45 – 61
		January 24, 2021 – April 4, 2021	Episodes 92 – 102
		January 30, 2022	Episode 142
Oh Joong Seok	photographer	July 26, 2020 – October 4, 2020	Episodes 66 – 76
		January 30, 2022	Episode 142
Solar	singer	November 1, 2020 – December 6, 2020; May 5, 2021 – September 26, 2021	Episodes 80 – 85, 107–109, 115–120, 124–126
Lim Seong-Bin	Interior designer	December 13, 2020 – December 27, 2020	Episodes 86 – 88
		March 21, 2021 – April 4, 2021	Episodes 100 – 102
Song Hoon	Italian cuisine expert	July 19, 2020 – January 24, 2021	Episodes 65 – 92
		March 21, 2021 – April 4, 2021	Episodes 100 – 102
		January 30, 2022	Episode 142
Jeong Jae-Yong	KBS Sports Director	July 18, 2021	Episode 117	Special VCR Cast
Kim Jung-hwan, Gu Bon-gil, Kim Jun-ho, Oh Sang-uk	The men's fencing team	August 8, 2021 – August 15, 2021	Episodes 118 – 119	Special VCR Cast
Tony Ahn	TN Entertainment CEO	June 6, 2021 – September 19, 2021	Episodes 111 – 124
		January 30, 2022	Episode 142
Hyun Joo-yup	Broadcaster and former basketball coach	April 28, 2019 – October 27, 2019	Episodes 1 – 27
		May 10, 2020 – October 17, 2021	Episodes 55 – 128
		February 20, 2022	Episode 144

Ratings

• In the ratings below, the highest rating for the show is in red, and the lowest rating for the show is in blue each year.
• Highest ratings are listed for each episode.
• "—" denotes episode didn't enter top 20 in Nielsen Korea ratings.

List of ratings in 2019 (Episode 1–36)

Boss in the Mirror : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Episode		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	1–18	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.945	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1.225	1.228	1.211	N/A	1.277	1.122	1.271	1.236	1.164
	19–36	1.340	1.196	1.324	1.323	1.113	1.370	1.138	1.176	1.130	1.326	1.318	1.729	1.799	1.716	1.913	1.503	1.684	1.924

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[5]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Nielsen Korea[5]
		Nationwide	Seoul
Pilot	February 5	8.1% (5th)	7.9% (4th)
1	April 28	5.7% (20th)	5.6% (20th)
2	May 5	—	—
3	May 12	—	—
4	May 19	—	—
5	May 26	6.1% (16th)	—
6	June 2	—	—
7	June 9	6.1% (18th)	6.8% (17th)
8	June 16	—	—
9	June 23	6.1% (19th)	6.5% (18th)
10	June 30	6.7% (12th)	6.5% (15th)
11	July 7	7.1% (15th)	7.4% (14th)
12	July 14	7.4% (15th)	7.4% (15th)
13	July 21	6.6% (18th)	6.4% (20th)
14	July 28	7.5% (14th)	8.1% (12th)
15	August 4	6.1% (18th)	—
16	August 11	7.1% (14th)	6.6% (17th)
17	August 18	7.8% (12th)	7.6% (14th)
18	August 25	7.1% (14th)	6.9% (14th)
19	September 1	7.9% (11th)	7.5% (12th)
20	September 8	7.0% (15th)	6.1% (19th)
21	September 15	7.9% (12th)	7.8% (15th)
22	September 22	8.4% (10th)	7.1% (14th)
23	September 29	7.0% (12th)	6.3% (15th)
24	October 6	7.8% (11th)	7.4% (12th)
25	October 13	6.9% (13th)	6.0% (17th)
26	October 20	7.7% (11th)	8.2% (10th)
27	October 27	6.3% (15th)	5.7% (19th)
28	November 3	8.0% (10th)	7.8% (12th)
29	November 10	8.1% (12th)	8.1% (11th)
30	November 17	9.4% (8th)	9.0% (8th)
31	November 24	10.4% (8th)	9.8% (9th)
32	December 1	10.1% (8th)	10.0% (8th)
33	December 8	11.2% (9th)	10.8% (9th)
34	December 15	9.3% (11th)	8.5% (12th)
35	December 22	9.5% (12th)	9.1% (12th)
36	December 29	11.0% (9th)	10.3% (12th)

List of ratings in 2020 (Episode 37–88)

Boss in the Mirror : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Episode		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
	37–49	1.900	1.625	1.859	1.275	1.560	1.898	1.648	1.756	1.870	1.838	1.578	1.646	1.616
	50–62	1.531	1.544	1.885	1.304	1.326	1.430	1.454	1.585	1.566	1.380	1.350	1.658	1.525
	63-75	1.684	1.744	1.499	1.283	1.589	1.400	1.447	1.436	1.651	2.051	1.820	1.379	1.392
	76–88	1.525	1.294	1.571	1.632	1.731	1.619	1.949	1.863	1.989	2.045	1.974	1.604	2.062

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[6]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Nielsen Korea[6]
		Nationwide	Seoul
37	January 5	10.9% (8th)	10.5% (9th)
38	January 12	9.7% (10th)	9.7% (9th)
39	January 19	10.3% (9th)	10.2% (8th)
40	January 26	7.6% (13th)	7.7% (12th)
41	February 2	9.3% (13th)	9.2% (12th)
42	February 9	10.3% (9th)	10.7% (7th)
43	February 16	9.3% (13th)	9.7% (11th)
44	February 23	9.2% (14th)	9.2% (12th)
45	March 1	9.6% (12th)	10.1% (9th)
46	March 8	10.0% (13th)	10.6% (10th)
47	March 15	8.4% (14th)	8.5% (15th)
48	March 22	9.3% (14th)	9.3% (12th)
49	March 29	9.4% (12th)	9.0% (13th)
50	April 5	7.9% (14th)	7.8% (15th)
51	April 12	8.5% (14th)	8.1% (14th)
52	April 19	9.9% (9th)	9.7% (9th)
53	April 26	6.9% (18th)	6.8% (19th)
54	May 3	7.5% (14th)	6.8% (15th)
55	May 10	7.3% (13th)	7.1% (15th)
56	May 17	7.8% (12th)	7.7% (13th)
57	May 24	8.5% (13th)	8.7% (14th)
58	May 31	8.4% (12th)	8.5% (12th)
59	June 7	7.8% (14th)	7.6% (13th)
60	June 14	8.0% (14th)	8.0% (13th)
61	June 21	9.6% (9th)	9.7% (8th)
62	June 28	8.7% (12th)	8.9% (10th)
63	July 5	9.3% (12th)	9.5% (11th)
64	July 12	10.5% (7th)	10.7% (7th)
65	July 19	8.2% (14th)	8.5% (10th)
66	July 26	6.7% (15th)	6.7% (16th)
67	August 2	8.5% (12th)	9.3% (11th)
68	August 9	8.3% (13th)	9.1% (11th)
69	August 16	8.2% (13th)	8.2% (10th)
70	August 23	8.1% (14th)	8.5% (13th)
71	August 30	9.1% (14th)	9.5% (11th)
72	September 6	11.0% (6th)	10.8% (7th)
73	September 13	9.8% (8th)	10.1% (7th)
74	September 20	8.6% (10th)	9.1% (9th)
75	September 27	8.7% (9th)	9.1% (8th)
76	October 4	8.6% (12th)	8.7% (12th)
77	October 11	8.0% (12th)	7.8% (13th)
78	October 18	8.4% (11th)	8.8% (9th)
79	October 25	8.8% (10th)	9.3% (11th)
80	November 1	10.0% (9th)	10.4% (8th)
81	November 8	9.1% (10th)	9.0% (9th)
82	November 15	10.2% (7th)	10.9% (6th)
83	November 22	10.4% (8th)	10.2% (8th)
84	November 29	11.2% (7th)	11.7% (7th)
85	December 6	11.7% (7th)	12.0% (6th)
86	December 13	10.5% (11th)	10.8% (8th)
87	December 20	9.0% (11th)	8.9% (11th)
88	December 27	11.7% (8th)	11.9% (7th)

List of ratings in 2021 (Episode 89–138)

Boss in the Mirror : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Episode		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
	89–101	2.148	1.966	1.817	1.834	1.766	1.806	1.964	1.563	1.807	1.615	1.612	1.589	1.783
	102–114	1.609	1.531	1.520	1.519	1.304	1.420	1.872	1.609	1.396	1.257	1.458	1.309	1.264
	115–127	1.101	1.074	1.040	1.254	1.098	1.329	1.275	1.273	1.121	0.828	1.054	0.815	0.931
	128–138	1.009	1.140	1.002	0.938	0.994	1.021	1.299	1.226	1.326	1.070	1.152	–

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[7]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Nielsen Korea[7]
		Nationwide	Seoul
89	January 3	12.3% (7th)	12.4% (6th)
90	January 10	10.9% (7th)	10.9% (8th)
91	January 17	10.4% (9th)	11.1% (9th)
92	January 24	10.1% (8th)	9.7% (9th)
93	January 31	9.5% (7th)	9.8% (7th)
94	February 7	9.4% (8th)	9.1% (9th)
95	February 14	10.6% (7th)	10.7% (8th)
96	February 21	8.9% (10th)	9.1% (8th)
97	February 28	10.5% (7th)	10.2% (8th)
98	March 7	8.8% (9th)	9.2% (9th)
99	March 14	9.3% (8th)	9.8% (8th)
100	March 21	8.8% (9th)	8.9% (9th)
101	March 28	9.3% (9th)	10.0% (8th)
102	April 4	9.3% (9th)	9.4% (8th)
103	April 11	8.1% (9th)	8.2% (9th)
104	April 18	8.3% (11th)	7.5% (12th)
105	April 25	8.2% (9th)	7.6% (10th)
106	May 2	7.6% (11th)	7.5% (10th)
107	May 9	8.3% (8th)	8.0% (10th)
108	May 16	9.9% (7th)	9.6% (9th)
109	May 23	9.3% (8th)	8.6% (8th)
110	May 30	8.4% (9th)	8.1% (11th)
111	June 6	6.7% (11th)	6.2% (13th)
112	June 13	8.1% (8th)	8.6% (6th)
113	June 20	7.6% (9th)	7.5% (10th)
114	June 27	7.2% (11th)	6.8% (11th)
115	July 4	5.9% (9th)	5.9% (7th)
116	July 11	6.2% (8th)	5.8% (8th)
117	July 18	6.0% (10th)	5.7% (13th)
118	August 9	7.1% (6th)	6.5% (8th)
119	August 15	6.0% (7th)	5.7% (8th)
120	August 22	7.2% (7th)	7.6% (6th)
121	August 29	7.2% (7th)	7.2% (5th)
122	September 5	6.9% (6th)	6.5% (5th)
123	September 12	5.9% (8th)	5.0% (10th)
124	September 19	4.9% (12th)	4.6% (15th)
125	September 26	5.7% (11th)	5.2% (14th)
126	October 3	4.9% (14th)	5.1% (13th)
127	October 10	5.6% (9th)	6.1% (6th)
128	October 17	5.7% (8th)
129	October 24	6.2% (7th)	5.8% (9th)
130	October 31	5.6% (8th)	5.3% (9th)
131	November 7	5.7% (8th)	5.2% (9th)
132	November 14	5.7% (10th)	6.1% (7th)
133	November 21	6.0% (7th)	5.7% (8th)
134	November 28	7.3% (5th)	7.4% (5th)
135	December 5	6.4% (8th)	6.3% (7th)
136	December 12	7.5% (7th)	7.6% (6th)
137	December 19	5.9% (12th)	5.9% (11th)
138	December 26	6.9% (9th)	6.7% (9th)

List of ratings in 2022 (Episode 139–)

Boss in the Mirror : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Episode		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
	139–151	1.237	1.426	1.477	1.257	0.837	1.902	1.625	1.090	1.113	1.343	1.269	1.099	0.968
	152–164	0.788	0.879	0.848	0.993	1.036	1.137	1.109	1.112	1.057	1.066	TBD	TBD	TBD
	165–177	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
	178–190	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[8]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Nielsen Korea[8]
		Nationwide	Seoul
139	January 2	6.6% (8th)	6.3% (9th)
140	January 9	7.7% (7th)	7.5% (6th)
141	January 16	7.8% (9th)	7.7% (9th)
142	January 23	7.0% (6th)	7.2% (5th)
143	January 30	4.8% (13th)	4.2% (18th)
144	February 6	10.3% (3th)	10.2% (3th)
145	February 20[a]	8.9% (4th)	8,9% (4th)
146	February 27	6.0% (10th)	5.6% (10th)
147	March 6	6.2% (10th)	6.0% (10th)
148	March 13	7.5% (6th)	7.4% (6th)
149	March 20	6.8% (7th)	6.6% (7th)
150	March 27	5.8% (8th)	6.0% (6th)
151	April 3	5.4% (9th)	5.5% (9th)
152	April 10	4.4% (15th)	4.2% (18th)
153	April 17	4.7% (10th)	4.5% (13th)
154	April 24	4.6% (11th)	4.2% (16th)
155	May 1	5.6% (7th)	5.5% (7th)
156	May 8	5.9% (6th)	6.0% (5th)
157	May 15	6.6% (5th)	6.7% (5th)
158	May 22	6.2% (7th)	5.4% (7th)
159	May 29	6.6% (6th)	6.2% (6th)
160	June 5	6.5% (5th)	5.4% (6th)
161	June 12	6.1% (7th)	6.1% (6th)

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / Work	Result	Ref.
KBS Entertainment Awards	2019	Hot Issue Entertainer Award	Yang Chi-seung	Won	[10]
		Excellence Award (Entertainment Category)	Choi Hyun-seok	Nominated	[11][unreliable source?]
		Top Excellence Award (Entertainment Category)	Hyun Joo-yup	Nominated
		Rookie Award in Show & Entertainment	Shim Young Soon	Won
		Viewers' Choice Best Program Award	Boss in the Mirror	Nominated
	2020	Best Entertainer Award (Reality Category)	Yang Chi-seung [ko]	Won	[12]
		Grand Prize (Daesang)	Kim Sook	Won
		Top Excellence Award (Reality Category)	Hyun Joo-yup	Won
		Excellence Award (Reality Category)	Yang Chi-seung [ko]	Nominated	[citation needed]
		Rookie Award (Reality Category)	Hur Jae	Nominated
		Viewers' Choice Best Program Award	Boss in the Mirror	Nominated
	2021	Best Entertainer Award (Reality Category)	Kim Byung-hyun	Won	[13]
		Best Entertainer Award (Show/Variety Category)	Solar	Won
		Entertainer of the Year	Kim Sook and Jun Hyun-moo	Won
		Hot Issue TV Personality Award	Jung Ho-young [ko]	Won
		Top Excellence Award (Reality Category)	Hur Jae	Won
		Rookie Award (Reality Category)	Kim Byung-hyun	Nominated	[14]
		Viewers' Choice Best Program Award	Boss in the Mirror	Nominated	[15]
	2022	Viewers' Choice Best Program Award	Boss in the Mirror	Nominated	[16]
		Top Excellence Award in Reality Category	Hur Jae	Nominated
		Excellence Award in Reality Category	Kim Byung-hyun	Won	[17]
		Producer Special Award	Hur Jae	Won
		Best Icon Award	Boss in the Mirror Bosses	Won
	2023	Entertainer of the Year	Jeon Hyun-moo	Won	[18]
			Kim Sook	Won
		Best Icon Award	Choo Sung-hoon	Won
Rookie Award (Reality Category)		Ji-seon Jeong	Won

Notes

1. No broadcast on February 13 due to the live coverage of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.^[9]